現代社会文化研究 No.34 2005 年 12 月 An Overview of the Albanian History: With Main Emphasis on Economy Blendi Barolli 要 旨 アルバニアの祖先はイリュリア民族であるといわれている。ローマ帝国がイリュリアを統一 する紀元前に古代イリュリア人はバルカン半島のギリシャ人やマケドニア人との間で戦争を行 っていた。 時代が下って、1470 年から 1912 年までアルバニアはオスマントルコによって征服されてい た。1944 年から 1992 年まではアルバニアは社会主義であり、自由貿易や私的経済事業が禁止 されていた。1992 年以降、アルバニアは市場経済に移行しつつある。 本稿は、アルバニアの市場経済への移行を明らかにするものではない。古代と現代のアルバ ニアについて読者に紹介し、アルバニアの歴史についてより深く理解してもらうことが本稿の 主な目的である。 Keywords: Albanian history, independence, transition economy Introduction I. Albania in Antiquity II. Albania under the Ottoman rule III. The end of Ottoman Rule and Albanian Independence IV. Albanian Economy during 1913-1939 1. Social and Economic Conditions after World War I 2. Zog's Kingdom 3. Italian occupation V. World War II and Albania (1939-1944) VI. Albania Economy under the Communism System (1944-1990) 1. Consolidation of Power and Initial Reforms - 241 - An Overview of the Albanian History from the Economic Perspective（Barolli） 2. Albanian-Yugoslav Tensions 3. Deteriorating Relations with the West 4. Albania and the Soviet Union 5. Albania and China 6. The Break with China and Self-Reliance Endnote Introduction Albania is a Mediterranean1 country in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro2 in the north, Kosovo3 in the north-east (both still formally part of Serbia4-Montenegro), the Republic of Macedonia5 in the east, and Greece in the south, has a coast on the Adriatic Sea6 in the west, and a coast on the Ionian Sea7 in the southwest. The country is an emerging democracy and is formally named the Republic of Albania. This paper will give a short history of Albania beginning from the Antiquity up to the collapse of most server communist system in Europe. The opening of Albania toward the market economy, its politics and its economy will be studied in the days to come. The study of international economic relation of Albania as well as the study of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) will be prepared in a near future. I. Albania in Antiquity The question of the origin of the Albanians is still a matter of controversy among the ethnologists. A great many theories have been propounded in solution of the problem relative to the place from which the original settlers of Albania proceeded to their present home. The existence of another Albania in the Caucasus, the mystery in which the derivation of the name “Albania” is enshrouded, and which name, on the other hand, is unknown to her people, and the fact that history and legend afford no record of the arrival of the Albanians in the Balkan Peninsula, have rendered the question of their origin a particularly difficult one8. But, however that may be, it is generally recognized today that the Albanians are the most ancient race in southeastern Europe. All indications point to the fact that they are descendants of the earliest Aryan immigrants who were represented in historical times by the kindred Illyrians, Macedonians and Epirus9. The findings of the ethnologists are, moreover, strengthened by the unbroken traditions of the natives, who - 242 - 現代社会文化研究 No.34 2005 年 12 月 regard themselves, and with pride as the descendants of the aboriginal settlers of the Balkan Peninsula. Therefore, they think have the best claims on it. It is also on the strength of these traditions that the Albanian looks upon the other Balkan nationalities as mere intruders who have expropriated him of much that was properly his own. Hence the constant border warfare, which has gone on for centuries between the Albanian and his neighbors. The origins of the Albanian people, as was mentioned before, are not definitely known, but data drawn from history and from linguistic, archaeological, and anthropological studies have led to the conclusion that Albanians are the direct descendants of the ancient Illyrians and that the latter were natives of the lands they inhabited. Similarly, the Albanian language derives from the language of the Illyrians, the transition from Illyrian to Albanian apparently occurring between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. Illyrian culture is believed to have evolved from the Stone Age and to have manifested itself in the territory of Albania toward the beginning of the Bronze Age, about 2000 BC. The Illyrians were not a uniform body of people but a conglomeration of many tribes that inhabited the western part of the Balkans, from what is now Slovenia in the northwest to and including the region of Epirus, which extends about halfway down the mainland of modern Greece. In general, Illyrians in the highlands of Albania were more isolated than those in the lowlands, and their culture evolved more slowly a distinction that persisted throughout Albania's history. Authors of antiquity relate that the Illyrians were a sociable and hospitable people, renowned for their daring and bravery at war. Illyrian women were fairly equal in status to the men, even to the point of becoming heads of tribal federations. In matters of religion, Illyrians were pagans who believed in an afterlife and buried their dead along with arms and various articles intended for personal use. The land of Illyrians was rich in minerals; iron, copper, gold, silver and Illyrians became skillful in the mining and processing of metals. They were highly skilled boat builders and sailors as well10. II. Albania under the Ottoman rule Owing partly to the weakness of the Byzantine Empire, Albania, beginning in the 9th century, came under the domination, in whole or in part, of a succession of foreign powers: Bulgarians, Norman crusaders, the Angevins of southern Italy, Serbs, and Venetians. The final occupation of the country in 1347 by the Serbs caused massive migrations of Albanians abroad, especially to Greece and the Aegean islands. By the mid-14th century, Byzantine rule had come to an end in Albania, after nearly 1,000 years. A few decades later the country was confronted with a new threat, that of the Turks, who at this juncture were expanding their - 243 - An Overview of the Albanian History from the Economic Perspective（Barolli） power in the Balkans. The Ottoman Turks invaded Albania in 1388 and completed the occupation of the country about four decades later (1430). But after 1443 an Albanian of military genius Gjergj Kastrioti (1405-68), known as Skenderbeu11, rallied the Albanian princes and succeeded in driving the occupiers out. For the next 25 years, operating out of his stronghold in the mountain town of Kruja12, Skenderbeg frustrated every attempt by the Turks to regain Albania, which they envisioned as a springboard for the invasion of Italy and Western Europe. His unequal fight against the mightiest power of the time won the esteem of Europe as well as some support in the form of money and military aid from Naples, the papacy, Venice, and Ragusa. After he died, Albanian resistance gradually collapsed, enabling the Turks to reoccupy the country by 1506. Skenderbeg's long struggle to keep Albania free became highly significant to the Albanian people, as it strengthened their solidarity, made them more conscious of their national identity, and served later as a great source of inspiration in their struggle for national unity, freedom, and independence. To defend and promote their national interests, Albanians met in Prizren13, a town in Kosovo, in 1878 and founded the Albanian League of Prizren (Lidhja Shqiptare e Prizrenit)14. The league had two main goals, one political and the other cultural. First, it strove (unsuccessfully) to unify all Albanian territories, at the time divided among the four vilayets15, or provinces, of Kosovo, Shkodra16, Manastir, and Janina, into one autonomous state within the framework of the Ottoman Empire. Second, it spearheaded a movement to develop Albanian language, literature, education, and culture. The Albanian League was suppressed by the Turks in 1881, in part because they were alarmed by its strong nationalistic orientation. By then, however, the league had become a powerful symbol of Albania's national awakening, and its ideas and objectives fueled the drive that culminated later in national independence. When the Young Turks, who seized power in Istanbul in 1908, ignored their commitments to Albanians to institute democratic reforms and to grant autonomy, Albanians embarked on an armed struggle, which, at the end of three years (1910-12), forced the Turks to agree, in effect, to grant their demands. Alarmed at the prospect of Albanian autonomy, Albania's Balkan neighbors, who had already made plans to partition the region, declared war on Turkey in October 1912, and Greek, Serbian, and Montenegrin armies advanced into Albanian territories. To prevent the annihilation of the country, Albanian national delegates met at a congress in Vlora17. They were led by Ismail Qemali, an Albanian who had held several high positions in the Ottoman government. - 244 - 現代社会文化研究 No.34 2005 年 12 月 III. The end of Ottoman Rule and Albanian Independence The Albanians once more rose against the Ottoman Empire in May 1912 and took the Macedonian capital, Skopje, by August. Stunned, the Young Turks regime acceded to some of the rebel’s demands. The First Balkan War, however, erupted before a final settlement could be worked out. Most Albanians remained neutral during the war, during which the Balkan allies, the Serbs, Bulgarians, and Greeks, quickly drove the Turks to the walls of Constantinople. The Montenegrins surrounded Shkodra with the help of northern Albanian tribes anxious to fight the Ottoman Turks. Serb forces took much of northern Albania, and the Greeks captured Janina and parts of southern Albania. An assembly of eighty-three Muslim and Christian leaders meeting in Vlora in November 1912 declared Albania an independent country and set up a provisional government, but an ambassadorial conference that opened in London in December decided the major questions concerning the Albanians after the First Balkan War in its concluding Treaty of London of May 1913.